Recent etymology holds that the word 'London' is derived, not from a corruption of Lud Town as was commonly thought, but from the old Celtic for 'fort on the lake', Lyn din, which makes a lot more sense. What a fine testament to the enduring perversity of its inhabitants: London is built on marsh land. For a city renowned and reviled the world over for its inclement weather it seems entirely appropriate that it should be wet underneath as well as on top.
A damp people are an irritable people. The popular American misconception that Londoners are polite could not be further from the truth. We are among the rudest and most aggressive on earth, and proud of it. An American couple I know recently had an archetypal London experience. Sitting in a restaurant, talking ingenuously about their personal trainers, business managers and the like, they were surprised to find themselves mocked by a pair of local chaps, saucy fellows, who had presumably taken exception to their loud and un-self-conscious materialism.
In London one is socialised from an early age in the understanding that when people are mean to you, it's nothing personal. It's simply that they don't like the way you look or talk, particularly if you are better looking and wealthier than they are. This seems to me an entirely civilised response, and one which typifies the rich network of social awareness that characterises London life. What this means if you're a foreigner is that just because we're horrible to you, it doesn't mean that we don't like you or want your business. You can understand that can't you?
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